It was a Waikato double in boys and girls under-18 eights at the Maadi Cup national secondary school rowing championships on Lake Ruataniwha this afternoon.

Hamilton Boys' High School defended their Maadi Cup title by maintaining a lead they earned midway through the second 500m of the race and holding off a fast finishing St Bede's College from Christchurch.

The fastest qualifiers,however, were unable to to catch the Hamilton crew while Napier Boys High School were third.

The winning crew of Theo Krieken, Caleb Loomams, Drikus Conradie, Matt Munro, Sam Macky, James Parton, Tom Bell, Finn Maunsell and cox Hayden Shaw finished with a time of 5.55.84 which saw them more than twoseconds clear at the end of the 2000m race.

Waikato Diocesan School took the Levin Jubilee Cup in the premier girls race for the third time in their history and the first time since 2011.

The crew of Anahera Nin, Georgia Barker, Annaliese O'Leary, Anna Porritt, Madison Dunn, Kate Martin, Laura Kelly, Angela Clarke and cox Victoria Wilson led from the early stages of the race and extended their lead at each of the quarter marks to finish with a time of 6.51.43.

They beat second placed Westlake Girls' High School by almost nine seconds, while two-time defending champions, St Margaret's College from Christchurch were a gallant third.